


Romance at 42 Cheeseman Street

by malachibi



Category: Emelan - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 04:12:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11395104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malachibi/pseuds/malachibi
Summary: Freshly back from Namorn, the four residents of 42 Cheeseman Street find themselves unintentionally sabotaging each others' dates.





	Romance at 42 Cheeseman Street

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Seika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seika/gifts).



> I took the prompt "The Circle are really bad at dealing with each other's romances, whether inside or outside the group" and ran with it! Hope you enjoy it =] 
> 
> This is set not long after Will of the Empress.

The first time Sandry's dinner with an interested nobleman gets interrupted by an emergency broadcast through her bond, she doesn't think much of it. She makes her apologies to him, he waves her off and promises to meet up with her next week instead, and she goes to help. 

By the fourth time, she's getting a little suspicious. 

"Doesn't it seem a little… odd, that emergencies keep cropping up whenever I'm out to dinner?" she asks Tris the morning after they've successfully rescued three families from a nasty housefire. 

"A little, but considering Briar gets antsy whenever you go out to dinner and goes looking for trouble, I'm not that surprised," Tris explains without taking her nose out of her book. 

"And last month, when Daja tried to go on that date, there was the guy trying to break into Lightbridge's staff-only library. And Briar wasn't behind that, was he?" Sandry checks. 

"Actually, he was. He was up visiting me," Tris comments. "I was in the main library, and he went wandering."

"He's not actively trying to stop Daja and I from dating, is he?"

Now Tris actually puts the book down, looking thoughtful. "That'd be awfully hypocritical of him, considering he's been going out on dates himself."

"Oh, yes. I remember him talking about how we… interrupted his date," Sandry says slowly. 

"Who caused that one?" Tris wants to know. 

"Me," Sandry admits. "I was having dinner with Pasco's family, and they got a runner with news of a murder, and… well, I contacted everyone and we helped to solve the murder and capture the man who committed the crime."

"So it's not just Briar."

"It looks like it's not," Tris agrees. "Unless it's his revenge for you interrupting his date. Dates?"

"I… have interrupted multiple," Sandry admits. "But always for a good reason!"

"Suddenly, I'm glad I don't date," Tris sighs, picking her book up again. "It means I won't get directly involved in any of this mess."

"Unless we badger you into helping us," Sandry points out. 

Tris lifts her eyes, glaring over the top of her book. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would absolutely dare," Sandry reminds. "I've a vested interest in keeping Daja's heart from being broken again, and Briar isn't very good at picking his dates. They just need a little help!"

"But don't you think they'll… you know, resent you for interfering?"

"I'm their sister. They'll forgive me. And they'll see that I'm right," Sandry decides. 

Tris rolls her eyes and goes back to her book, and Sandry waits for a moment before deciding not to bother her studious foster-sister further. 

She'll just have to figure out what to do on her own. 

\--

The next time Daja goes on a date, Briar lasts five minutes sitting in the living room before getting up and starting to pace impatiently. 

"Let's go out shopping," Sandry decides, and Briar's immediately pulling on his shoes without even a token protest. 

For either the shopping or the shoes, Sandry thinks as she follows him out the door. 

He's still buzzing with energy as they walk along the streets, though he keeps to her pace, and she slows both of them to a stop at the edge of the market. 

"I'm trying to be good," she tells him. "If we see Daja, we go the other way. If trouble comes up, we call for Tris if we need back-up."

He blinks at her, confused, and though he's good at subterfuge, he hasn't been able to fool her in years. 

"You didn't know you were doing it either," she concludes. 

"Doing what?" he wants to know. 

"We keep interrupting each others' dates," Sandry explains, brushing a piece of non-existent dirt off her skirt. "So we're going to go and have a good shopping trip, and then go home and eat, and when Daja comes home, it'll be because she wants to and not because we've dragged her away from the poor girl she took out."

"Or…" Briar says slowly, and she turns her attention to him, waiting for the alternative. 

"Or?" she prompts when he doesn't immediately complete his sentence. 

"Or we could call her to help us stop those kids robbing the stall over there," he points out. "The girl was too fussy for her anyways. Anyone Daja dates has to get along with the three of us."

"The same would go for your dates," she reminds, twirling a finger to pull her magic around the would-be robbers and stop them in their tracks. 

"And yours," he points out. "You keep going on dates too."

"I'm allowed," she retorts, tilting her chin up. "Are you jealous?"

"No," he replies immediately, lifting a hand to coax a vine into capturing one robber who's doing his best to make his escape. "Okay, a little," he admits, and then turns to glare at the robbers. "Where're the people who should be dealing with this?" he demands. 

"I'm sure they're on their way," Sandry assures him. "C'mon. Let's keep going."

"And not find Daja on the way," Briar agrees begrudgingly. 

"Right," Sandry replies firmly, and takes his offered arm. 

\--

Tris expects one of two things - either Daja will come home grumpy and Sandry and Briar will come home happy and full of trouble, or Sandry and Briar will come home disappointed and Daja will come home all aglow with new love. 

To her surprise, neither of those things happen. Instead, Daja's the one who comes home disappointed, apparently from a very uninterrupted date that was also very disappointing. 

And when Sandry and Briar come home, they don't have any smug looks that would point to them being subtly behind the disappointing date, so Tris is forced to assume they had nothing to do with it. 

That's surprising in itself, actually, but she doesn't dwell on it. 

"We managed not to sabotage anyone's date," Sandry announces, dispelling any hope Tris had of a quiet night. 

"Are you saying you have before?" Daja asks, leaning on her staff and quirking an eyebrow. 

"Yes," Sandry The Stubborn replies immediately, lifting her chin. "And I'm not that sorry. But I've realized that… even with our bonds open, even being close again, we deserve to be able to date who we want. Whoever you choose to date has to get along with all of us, of course…"

"... which will be a miracle in itself…" Briar adds.

"... but I'm going to try not to interfere anymore," Sandry finishes. 

"Hey, if I have a date that goes as badly as this one, you're welcome to drag me out of it," Daja comments. "Besides, we agreed that family comes first, right?"

"We did," Sandry says decisively, touching a finger to the scar on her palm.

It's the last reminder of the physical thread that had woven them together all those years ago, but it's all the reminder any of them need. 

"Family first, we're all agreed, so no more of this messing with dates," Briar suggests. "A guy has enough trouble trying to find a nice girl without his sisters interfering."

Sandry makes a face, but instead of replying, she sticks her hand in the middle of the loose circle they've made. 

_Family_ , she says through their bonds, and Tris puts her book down to stick her own hand on top of Sandry's. 

Briar's hand goes next, the one marked with both the Circle's scar and the marks from the briar he'd named himself for, and Daja shifts her staff to her other hand to put her marked hand on top of the others. 

_To family_ , Daja says. 

_Saps,_ Briar replies, but there's enough fondness in his voice to outweigh any insult. 

_Family,_ Tris agrees once they've all turned to look at her expectantly. _Now can I please get back to reading?_

Sandry laughs aloud, removing her hand. "Of course," she agrees cheerfully, settling down on the couch. "Family forever."

\--


End file.
